Introduction
A brief history of Islamic art and culture reveals
that one of the first revivals was witnessed immediately
after the Seljuk Turks won a war against the Byzantine
Army back in 1071. The Seljuk Turks were thus
the principle ethnic communities to introduce
Islamic art, only to be temporarily interrupted
by Mongol invasion in the middle of the 13th century.
However, the onslaught of various Turkish tribes
from Turkestan , Azerbaijan and Khorasan served
as a strong impetus for the revival of Turkish
traditions and culture in Anatolia , in turn leading
to a new era of researches in arts and culture.
The conquest of Istanbul in 1453 by a number of
Anatolian fiefdoms, also known as the emirates
joined hands to forge a union and form the famous
Ottoman Empire , spreading to major parts of Islamic
world, and with their arts. It was perhaps this
era when some of the most beautiful art works
were produced in the distinct Ottoman style, a
practice that continued for the better part of
the next century, depicting the true glory and
grandeur of Turkish Islamic art. The 18th century
was witness to political instability, and the
advance of western civilization, ending the so-called
era or "Tulip Period" between the years
of 1703 and 1730.This was also the last attempt
at reviving one of the best known and famous art
forms introduced by the Ottoman, which finally
witnessed its final fall in the 19th century.
The following section of the paper will however strive to briefly present the Seljuk era, with a particular focus on the tiles and pottery, which is said to be one of the finest works of art of the era of Anatolian Turkish architecture. Seljuk tiles and pottery is said to have evolved during the 13th century. Yet some of the finest pieces of Seljuk art both in tiles and pottery is said to have emerged in the 14th century, with particular emphasis on variety reflecting the glory and refinement of the Turkins Islamic civilization. Such was the quality and high standard of the Seljuk tiles and pottery, that through out the 14th century till the 19th century, Seljuk art work found worldwide fame primarily because of the variety, the techniques used, the choice of colors by the artists of the era, and the designs. (Pancaroglu, 2002; Grube, 1994)
Seljuk Ceramics
One of the distinct features of Seljuk art was
found in the ceramics of the era. Though ceramic
ware was less common, recent excavations and findings
have however resulted in extensive discoveries
of ceramic fragments at various locations in present
day Turkey. Some of the items and ware made from
ceramic include vases, ewers, bowls, plates, decanters
and artifacts unglazed, reddish, grayish and yellowish
soft clay. Other ware discovered included those
painted in Grey of reddish stripes, duly embossed
with grooves and created strips. This earthenware
can be viewed in a number of museums across Turkey.
The unique style and material used for making
these ceramic earthenware were decorated using
the 'barbotine' technique with rosette, animal
and foliate motifs. Also included in Seljuk ceramic
earthenware are simple dishes, pots, bowls and
oil lanterns with turquoise, green, violet and
yellow-brown glazes. They are usually made of
reddish or off-white clay with a coarse grain,
and rather thick glaze. (Pancaroglu, 2002; Grube,
1994)
One of the most common forms of ceramics excavated in the regions of Anatolia have been found to made using the typical 'sgraffiato' technique which evolved during the 9th century, and was equally common in both the Islamic art as well as local Christian art. The technique is unique in the respect that it utilizes an engraving technique where the designs are 'incised onto the clay' or through a slip into the surface before firing. The ware is then covered with a monochrome cream using either of the yellow-brown, green, or polychrome transparent glazes followed by the re-firing process. Generally, the clay used for making this ceramic ware was either brick red, Grey, or having a light tan. The designs so produced used the technique of sgraffiato included abstract foliate and geometric motifs and chose animal as well as human figures as the principle focus of the ware.
One of the rarer forms of Seljuk pottery was found to have been made using the 'champleve technique' which utilized the formation of designs by engraving the slip with a tool to form deep, wide grooves. The depressions so formed were filled in with dark brown or black colors. On the other hand the transparent glaze consisted of colorless, green, brown or polychrome colors.
Brief characteristics of both the Seljuk sgraffaito
and champleve pottery duly decorated with animal
and human figures resemble to the 'iconography'
commonly observed in medieval Islamic ceramics.
However there is a slight difference observed
in the slender and elongated facial imprints and
figures with those found on the works of Islamic
art from the neighboring countries of Iran, Syria
and Iraq. The latter group of countries depict
round faces, almond eyes as dominant features,
as well as the more simpler form of iconography.
(Pancaroglu, 2002; Grube, 1994)
Another important category of Sejuk pottery is one, which is graded as luster pottery, and was mainly found in the regions of east Anatolia comprising of Samsat and Ahlat. Taking the luster pottery of the regions of Samsat, this has been divided into four principle groups. The first group comprises of luster decorations on greenish transparent glaze found in different color combinations including shades of brown mixed with metallic oxide. The designs are coarsely drawn, and their motifs present stylized rings with borders and kufic inscriptions decorating the ceramic ware. The clay used is also off-white and coarse, and majority of objects made thereof include bowls.
In the second group of luster pottery, cobalt blue lines and dots are drawn on transparent glazes. The top of the wares are decorated with brown luster and mostly include deep plates with broad rims and small pots.
In the third group of luster pottery of the Seljuk era, the luster have a purple glazes, and are decorations are similar to the first group of luster pottery mentioned in the preceding lines.
The fourth group of luster pottery comprises
of transparent cobalt blue glaze, and is the least
found with evidence of small fragments only. (Pancaroglu,
2002; Grube, 1994)
Seljuk Tiles
One of the first major developments in Islamic architecture using tiles were found in the regions of Anatolian Seljuk. The Seljuk tiles were primarily used for the decoration of mosques and their minarets (towers) duly colored with turquoise, purple, and reddish glaze bricks which was combined to produced a large variety of geometric compositions including kufic inscriptions. In addition small mosaic-like pieces of tiles were also combined to bring out truly colorful designs. One of the features of the introduction of Seljuk tiles in the 13th century era coincides with the introduction of twin-minarets or towers of mosques. Some of the examples of tiled and glazed brick minarets are the Tas Medrese (Aksehir, 1250), Yivli Minare (Antalya, late 13th century), Sahipata Mosque (Konya, 1258), the Gök Medrese and Çifte Minareli Medrese (Sivas, 1272), and the Ince Minareli Medrese (Konya, 1264).
In addition to the mosques and minarets, Seljuk tiles also decorated exterior portions of tombs, interior of Seljuk buildings, brick revetments covering large surfaces, arches, vaults, walls and other architecture including homes and public buildings.
One of the unique types of Seljuk tiles were found on palaces of the Seljuk era. These tiles on the palaces were somewhat different from the ones found on public and other buildings, as they were generally 'stellate and cruciform, comprising of figural compositions. These tiles with underglazes in practically all the Seljuk palaces, while luster tiles were found regions of Kubadabad and Alaeddin Palaces.
One of the most famous type of tiles, known as the 'minai' or enamel glazed tiles evolved in the Seljuk regions of Iran, and were found at the palace of Alaeddin Palace in Konya during the era of Kilic Arsalan II who lived during 1156 and 1192. These minai tiles consisted of various panels of figures duly joined by the help of cruciform tiles and decorated in Arabic language. The depiction on these tiles comprised of sultans, women of the harem, courtiers and servants. Also included as figures on these minai tiles were paintings of sphinx, siren, single and double-headed eagles, single and paired peacocks, paired birds on the tree of life and a dragon which create an unreal world. The primary object of drawing such varied forms on the pottery was the depiction of glory and grandeur of the Seljuks of the era. Also included are paintings of hunting animals such as the fox, hare, wolf, mountain goat, wild ass, bear, lion, falcon, hawk and antelope. All these animals are painted in colors of purple, turquoise, black, blue and green on a white ground on stellate underglazed tiles, while on the cruciform tiles; black arabesque designs were painted under a transparent turquoise glaze. (Ozel, 2001) |